Why the arrival of a home furnishings and home decor aggregator aspires to become a driver of sales for the sector
When the US housing market collapsed back in 2007, the furniture sector suffered a big blow. Data from SpendingPulse shows that in 2008 the furniture sector lost 10.8% and a whopping 12.6% in 2009.
For the last couple of years the panorama of the furniture sector has been less bleak than in the late 2000s. Mainly because when the housing market begun its recovery, furniture sales started to slowly grow again. However, furniture retailers still struggle to increase their sales.
One reason is that while other sectors have completed their transition to the online world, the furniture market is slugging. “The drawbacks of buying furniture online are very tangible: the size and weight of furniture makes shipping and storing it, not to mention possible returns, a much bigger logistical challenge,” recognized analyst Andrew Mantis in a piece called “Furniture Sales: Going Virtual Might Be Its Second Life”.
In the thorough article, published in 2012 by The Robin Report, Mantis observed how from 2008 to 2012, furniture sales online were steadily increasing. He concluded that for furniture retailers, “tapping into de ecommerce channel would be an advantageous move”.
Since the article was published, furniture retailers have indeed tapped into ecommerce. The direct consequence is that for the last three years, furniture sales online have increased yearly. Still, the deeper exploration of this channel has not always implied a better service for consumers. Supply has indeed augmented. Nevertheless, it is dispersed and fragmented.
So far no platform had faced the challenge of organizing that supply the way Kayak and Skyscanner did for plane tickets, or Booking.com for hotel rooms. These online aggregators have successfully bridged the gap between an increasing offer of products and a user with less available time to search and compare.
Until along came HomeLyst.
HomeLyst is an online platform that compiles and displays furniture and home décor goods available to be purchased online. HomeLyst’s aspiration is to become a driver of sales for the furniture sector while helping users “find everything they need while saving a lot of time and potentially money,” explains Aitziber Irisarri, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of HomeLyst.
HomeLyst recently launched their beta website with more than 200.000 products from 2.000 different brands and stores.
Posts from the same category:
- Liquid Leather
- Why You Should Buy Antique Furniture – It’s a Great Investment
- How To Create The Look You want With French Style Furniture
- Why Oak Furniture Pieces are Perfect for Every Home
- Sectional Couch – Make Sure You Get The right Size
- Why Wicker Outdoor Furniture will never become obsolete?
- 4 things you need to know about buying cheap sofas
